This previously unassigned and undated
manuscript survey of Lake Ontario was almost certainly one of the first surveys
of the Lake Ontario, completed before Captain William FitzOwen had taken up his position as Surveyor of the Great Lakes in November 1815. In fact this survey was likely for the use of Sir James Yoe, the British commander in the region throughout the 1812-14 conflict.

On the back-side of the original of this document is found Sir James Yoe's name, indicating that this survey was intended for his personal use. Yeo was ordered back to London on the 25th December 1814, which would of course date the chart before that time. Further evidence of the period and date of the chart lyes with the fact
that Fort Mississauga, shown on the chart, was constructed in the Spring
of 1814 of bricks from the ruins of the town of Newark. The town of Newark which
had previously been burned to the ground in July of 1813, on the order of Brig
Gen George McLure, the commander of the retreating American troops after the
battle of Beaver Dams.All
buildings, with the exception of some churches and one house were
destroyed.

Following the destruction
of Newark, the British retaliated, in December 1813, by capturing Fort Niagara
on the Eastern shore.After stiff
resistance by the Americans, which saw the death of the British commander
Colonel Murray and 10 others British casualties.American casualties were by all accounts extensive.

Of note is a contemporary
account from a (British?) engineer of the construction of Fort Mississauga whereby
a coloured Corps was attached to the Royal Engineers to help repair the
fortifications at the mouth of the Niagara River.

“When I visited the Niagara Frontier … I found that a corps
of Free Men of Colour had been raised … but had been turned over to that of the
Engineers, any necessity for this I never could learn, but it seems to have
been the fashion in Canada to heap all kinds of duties upon the latter.” Toward
the spring of 1814 the company was ordered to construct a new fort on the
Canadian shore, dubbed Fort Mississauga, materials for which were obtained from
the ruins of the nearby town of Niagara. With the American navy now controlling
Lake Ontario, this work was crucial to the security of British forces in the
Niagara Peninsula, one British officer later noting “Mississauga … is a pretty
little Fort, and would prevent vessels coming up the river.” These duties
consequently precluded the Coloured Corps’ participation in the Niagara
campaign that summer, even during the subsequent Siege of Fort Erie, where
British forces desperately lacked trained engineer troops. (note A)

With regard to the date of
this survey the question is; why is Newark, in 1814 labeled
as ‘Newark’ as opposed to ‘Niagara’, as it had been renamed by the British
themselves back in 1798?

Other features of this
unattributed chat worthy of special note
include:

The use of blue around the
shoreline, very much in keeping with the same used on the survey of the north
west coast of Lake Erie.Both
charts share a great number of similarities, not least the feeling that they
were both produced somewhat hurriedly, almost as though they were taken as
running surveys (note B).

Interestingly, the town of
York is not depicted, although the harbour and an anchorage is, despite having
been established by Governor John Simcoe in 1793 as the new Capital of Upper
Canada.Perhaps, again an example
of time constraint and a running survey?Simcoe had felt that the location of York on the North West coat of Lake
Ontario would be less vulnerable to American attack.The name Toronto does appear further down the coast but at
the time is more likely a reference to the ‘Toronto (land) purchase of o1787
whereby the Crown purchased 250,808 acres of land of the Mississauggas of New
Credit for some money, 2,000 gun flints,120 mirrors, 24 laced hats, a bale of
flowered flannel, 24 kettles and 96 gallons of rum.Simcoe had favoured European names and York was chosen to
replace the Fort Toronto as the name of the original settlement.The name later reverted to its original
name in 1834.

A second feature of this survey lyes over
at the Eastern end of the Lake with the settlement of Kingston which was during the During the war of 1812-14 was the base for the Lake Ontario division of the Great lakes fleet under the command of Yoe. This was also where the British had started to establish their surveying base and where the surveyors ‘retired’
during the worst of the winter months and may well explan why there is a higher concentration of detailed soundings and channels marked
on the chart there than anywhere else on the map. Also well marked, further south of Kingston, is Sackets Harbour which was the principle American Naval base on Lake Ontario at the time. Sackets Harbour was the scene of a major British blockade during May 1813.

As with so many apparently
simple and uncomplicated surveys, charts and maps the closer one looks the more
there is to see.This survey is a great example of such work. So full of questions...

Note B: A running survey is a ‘rough’ survey made by a
vessel while coasting. Bearings to landmarks are taken at intervals as the
vessel sails offshore, and are used to fix features on the coast and further
inland. Intervening coastal detail is sketched.